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X PLANE 12 Release Date | The IMMINENT RELEASE of the best FLYING SIM is HERE!

The IMMINENT RELEASE of the Best FLYING SIM is SOON?

The Imminent X Plane 12 Release Date has been hinted at early in 2022 at this point. There is no actual release date but from the process laminar research went through for X Plane 11 there will be a pre-release of the BETA for the developers so they can update their current releases first. The next step will a public beta which may run for some time before they release it as a full release to the public. In X Plane 11 this was probably nine months from memory so it’s not a quick release. It may not be until late 2022 before we see the full commercial release to the public.  

What’s Coming in the X Plane 12 Release?

Laminar Research and Austin Meyer the creator of X Plane have started teasing us with what they have been working on and why they have been so quiet of late. The recent release of a couple of new videos have shown us there is a definite urgency to maintain market share with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 hogging the market news. We all know what MSFS 2020 offers in both Scenery and the latest technology with more to come with the eventual move to DX-12 on this platform DLSS and real time shadows and reflections will become available.

X Plane 11 Release of Lighting Model

X Plane Next Generation videos have shown us a taste with a new lighting engine to bring a beautiful realistic feel to any time of day when flying your favourite aircraft. The video shows us comparisons between the current X Plane 11 and the X Plane next generation lighting model. We can see a huge improvement in reflections and much more realistic textures. This is a real move away from the computer models we have been used to and now are looking much more realistic. This is the path we need to work toward with MSFS 2020 and even DCS showing what’s possible in the realism department.

The lighting will be much more realistic in its transitions from full sunlight to darkness with this shot of the X Plane 11 release lighting video showing the airliner as the sun sets. The reflections are beautiful and just a thousand percent better than the currently X Plane 11 Lighting engine we are seeing. We are seeing more colour in the sky instead of the washed-out X Plane 11 version in the release videos. This to me looks truly amazing. In MSFS 2020 I see a lot of washed-out views and this is something they will have to address as well. All looks amazing for the lighting model in X Plane Next Generations upcoming release.

The latest X Plane 12 release brings one of the items simmers have pleaded for many years and that’s seasons. Austin Meyers the creator of X Plane says the seasons won’t be static and will transition in a true to life way. The seasons will take into account your flying location on the globe and apparently some consideration for local conditions. The difference between the seasons is quite stark and the words in the winter scene look like they may have some snow present with the white shade to them. Winds and weather are another part of the new generation sim we will discuss soon but so far what we are seeing is certainly going to deliver a new world and exciting simulator both visually with the covered improvements.

X Plane 12 Release Updates – Homes, Buildings and Vehicles and Scenery Objects.

Important and a gripe for many years are the quality and textures of the objects like trees in X Plane 11. The release again of MSFS 2020 bought more realistic trees and general scenery. The concept between X Plane 11/12/Next Generation and Microsoft Flight Simulator are very different. MSFS 2020 has gone the path of artificial intelligence to create its scenery and while it looks amazing at some altitude the reality of the process shows all its flaws and faults at low level. There are blobs and melted unknown objects that just destroy the realism of the Sim.

X Plane has always used objects to relate the trees, cars and forests to the user. This will continue but with a feverish pace set to create much more realistic trees and more that we are yet to see the approach is even more traditional to be fair. No, you won’t be able to fly over your home and see the kids playing in the pool like is nearly possible in MSFS 2020. What you will see are true 3D object populating the terrain with them being placed as accurately as possible and with a thought to what style of homes etc are located in that particular country. The difference between the current generation of X Plane and the new X Plane Generation is stunning. The detail and even the animation with the trees reacting to wind seems what’s coming in the new release for us to enjoy!

X Plane 12 Release is Delivering Next Generation Atmosphere!

Austin and the team at X Plane 12 release plans has stated there will be VOLUMETRIC Clouds and a lot of consideration for winds on a broader level. The current weather reporting X Plane uses is good but does not allow for microclimates in locations that often get slightly different weather to the broader region. A second consideration is the wind modelling itself with regards to mountains and other objects. 

This currently is considered at a less important level so you can currently ridge surf in your glider and improvements to this are harder to implement because the information is not available. The sim will still give current levels of wind integration in the new ALL Vulcan game engine. I look forward to seeing examples of the volumetric clouds Austin is said to be delivering.

In his interview his words were that he wanted for the pilot to understand the scale and size of some of these clouds and how insignificant you can feel trying to decide if you can fly over or have to fly around the clouds in the sim. It’s a desire to deliver a real world thought process especially in VFR flying. It sounds amazing but we have to wait and see what actually gets delivered.

X Plane Release – Trees and Seasons.

X Plane 11 introduced VULCAN API in the 11.50 release some 12 months or more ago and we have all seen the improvement in performance as well as less stuttering in sim which has helped enormously in VR especially. The new graphics engine coming with the X Plane 12 release is said to be much more optimized compared to the current variation which still has to cope with some old Open GL issues it seems.

The new game engine and X Plane 12 will be VULCAN only and therefor I would expect to be highly tuned.  In the probable BETA release when it happens there will be much to optimize so don’t expect immediate magic!  Austin has already said the new X Plane 12 release or whatever it may be called because there is a chance they may change from traditional naming convention to be X Plane Next Generation or even something else.

We will be getting so much that is new that the initial performance of the sim will likely be a struggle to get great frames. We may be surprised but if we go into this all-new simulator release with patience, we know Laminar research deliver in time. It’s a massive task as I am sure most of us appreciate. There are countless programmers as well as artists being fond all around the world in this very untraditional company. There are new sound and graphics artists working on the sim to deliver the best product with the latest technologies for our enjoyment. I personally can’t wait.

The new X Plane 12 release unfortunately won’t have full multiplayer support natively. This has been an issue for X Plane in the past. The Mobile app is currently capable of multi-player functionality and even this is relatively new. Laminar are planning to get this integrated in time but it’s not coming with the latest next generation of X Plane it seems just yet. This is n are I know many of us would like to have been that its integrated easily it seems into DCS as well as MSFS 2020 so although it’s not going to drop with the BETA it’s something along with an X Plane Shop which is also being considered but not front of mind with the sim functionality being the prime focus for now.

X Plane 12 Release and Backwards Compatibility

One very important aspect of upgrading to a new X Plane 12 release is the ability to use or long list of already purchased aircraft and scenery. We all are aware of the amount of money we spend on items so having to repurchase large expensive ORBX and other sceneries is something X Plane and Austin is super aware of. They guarantee that all new versions of X Plane will be backwards compatible with aircraft and scenery is what they have said in interviews. This should provide some comfort to current X Plane 11 and even 10 Users.

X Plane – Aircraft A Mystery.

The X Plane 12 Release of aircraft is somewhat secretive with the only note given from Austin was the A330 being the flagship airliner. I am sure we can expect to see all the current aircraft return but fully re mastered by the artists. The newest addition will also be the electric aircraft that Austin Meyers is directly involved with having used X Plane to pre-flight test the real aircraft.

The Flight model was fully tested in X Plane 11 / New generation so you will be flying a truly realistic engineering example of the new technology aircraft. More to deliver on this front as more comes to hand. We will have to be patient but again the backwards compatibility of current aircraft we own will be positive even if they don’t have any initial updates in textures to bring the new sim performance and visuals to being initially.

X Plane 12 release will come with a slightly improved flight model as Austin has had to do a lot of work to ensure the airflows with the real-world Electric aircraft with its multiple lift fans which needed to be modelled accurately for the real-world flight testing of this real-world aircraft!

There is a lot to be said for the existing flight model which in my opinion is the one part of this sim that will always stand it apart from MSFS 2020 and Prepar3D. The Flight model in X Plane is certainly one of the areas I appreciated when flying Sport Aircraft. It was able to give me a realistic feel as best as a desk mounted flight simulator can give.  

Author

Brendon McAliece (Aka Gunnie) is a military veteran with 23 years working on Jet Fighters, their weapons systems and ejection seat/module systems as well as munitions and R&D. Involved with flight simulation since the 1980s, he has flown all the major flight simulators over the years.

He is an Australian expat who has lived in Malaysia, UK, Saudi Arabia and more recently Thailand. He is a multi-lingual blogger who loves to share his life experiences here on LetsFlyVFR.com and DreamingGuitar.com, with his lifestyle and Travel experiences Blog plus his Dreaming Coffee website.

Learn More @ DreamingGuitar.com – DreamingCoffee.com – LetsFlyVFR.com

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